The Role of Natural Gas in Kuwait’s Power Evolution

Kuwait is grappling with relentless heat, aging infrastructure and unplanned power outages, prompting major investments in grid reliability. Today, renewables account for less than 1% of Kuwait’s electricity generation, but the country aims to grow that to 15% by 2030, with natural gas serving as a crucial transitional fuel. However, Rystad Energy analysis shows this lofty target could be out of reach. Our current projections estimate renewable capacity will only reach 3.3 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, just 7% of Kuwait’s power generation, with a renewables share of 15% by 2035, a more realistic target. By that time, renewable capacity is expected to exceed 11 GW, accounting for around 20% of Kuwait’s power generation.

Currently, Kuwait has 21 GW of installed capacity, but only about 17 GW of this is reliably available during peak months – due to planned maintenance and the age of its plants. With temperatures climbing as high as 50 degrees celsius in recent years and demand peaking at 17.7 GW in July, scheduled power cuts began two months earlier than the previous year, while unplanned outages added further strain, creating shortages of more than 1.5 GW during peak demand in May.

Blackouts in Kuwait have underscored the strain on the country’s power system, making imports unavoidable if such outages persist. As Kuwait modernizes and turns to renewables to address these challenges, high-profile events like the 2025 Iberian outage have raised questions about the reliability of renewable energy. Still, it would be myopic to dismiss the capabilities of renewables outright. Kuwait has plans to invest heavily in solar PV, for instance, benefiting from a natural advantage of more than 3,300 hours of sunlight each year. This abundant sunlight supports PV output of 4.6 to 4.9 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per kilowatt-peak per day, helping to meet peak afternoon demand when electricity use is highest,

Nishant Kumar, Analyst, Renewables & Power Research, Rystad Energy

Learn more with Rystad Energy’s Renewables & Power Solution.

As this transition takes place, gas is set to play a vital role in Kuwait’s energy future as the nation expands its use of renewable energy. Rystad Energy’s analysis indicates that Kuwaiti gas power generation is set to increase by 17% to 77 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030. As a result, gas production is expected to rise by 38%, while overall gas demand is forecast to increase by 30% in the next five years.

The increase in demand will be covered by a combination of rising domestic gas production and ongoing liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, ensuring round-the-clock supply. Examples of this can be seen in Kuwait’s planning of five large-scale gas-fired power plants that will add 18 GW of capacity, lifting total gas power capacity to more than 32 GW by 2035, which is up from 14 GW today. On the import side, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) have signed a 15-year LNG sale and purchase agreement with QatarEnergy, securing up to 3 million tonnes per annum of supply.